


No More Running

by falicewins



Series: Falice One Shots by falicewins [32]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Love Confessions, Smut, Unresolved Feelings, high school sweethearts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falicewins/pseuds/falicewins
Summary: Part 2 of 'A (Not So Much) Tamed Serpent.Alice comes back to FP when she can't stop thinking about them, a confrontation that lead to the two of them talking about their high school fallout.
Relationships: Alice Cooper & FP Jones II, Alice Cooper/FP Jones II
Series: Falice One Shots by falicewins [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626064
Kudos: 2





	No More Running

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This one shot is part two to: A (Not So Much) Tamed Serpent.

Alice was rapidly typing away on her laptop when Hal set a cup of tea next to her. For a second, it made her realize that she was in her living room, together with her husband. She smiled gratefully. If he hadn't made it for her, she would have probably never taken a break from work.

"I forgot to ask, how was Fred's party?" Hal sat across from her, also working on another Register article. He had been out of town last weekend, unable to attend to get together from their neighbor.

"It was alright." Alice smiled a little and wanted to focus back on her article. The last thing she needed was the memory of what had happened that night flashing in front of her eyes.

"Chatted with someone that you haven't seen in awhile?" Hal raised his eye-brow, obviously not done asking about the party yet.

"Yeah, a little." She said absentmindedly, before taking a sip of her tea.

"How about FP Jones? Did you talk to him?" Hal threw in casually, trying to catch eye contact with his wife.

"Why do you ask?" Alice asked suspiciously. She was very well aware of the fact that Hal didn't even like FP, so asking about him didn't make any sense.

"Mary mentioned that he was there. Just wondering, considering.... well, you know." Hal smiled a little uncomfortable.

"Considering what?" Alice shot back, not sure where he was going with this.

"Considering your past, of course. It's obvious he still has a thing for you." Hal shrugged, stating something that was very obvious to him.

He was sure that he wasn't the only person in town noticing the way he looked at her every single time the two of them ran into one another. He had seen it before and had watched it for over twenty years. Fortunately, he was the one the ring on her finger belonged to.

"He doesn't." Alice defended immediately. Her cheeks flushed a little, not because she thought her husband was right but because she hoped it was true.

"He does, Alice. Anyone can see that. Especially a husband." Hal spat a little too harshly. He immediately softened, realizing that he had raised his voice.

"Do you have a thing for him?" He asked her, his eyes burning a hole in her soul. Could he see it? Hadn't she covered her hickeys enough? Could he see the way she looked at him?

"What? Why do you say that?" She scowled, growing annoyed that he kept on bugging her about FP.

"It is just a question, Alice. No need to get defensive." Hal rolled his eyes.

"I just thought that... part of you was still in love with him." He added with a nonchalant shrug. Then, he stood up from his chair and walked her way. His hands found place on her shoulders. She swallowed.

"And you know, you're all mine. Only mine. Till death do us part, remember?" He whispered closely to her ear, almost as if it was a warning.

"Only yours." She gave him a faux smile as her stomach turned.

Alice knew that since he was growing suspicious, FP should be the last thing on her mind. However, all she needed was to see him, even if it was just for a little bit.

**

It appeared to be a miracle, but on a Wednesday afternoon FP Jones was doing nothing else but cleaning his trailer. He had promised Jughead to get his act together, and although it was just a small step into the right direction, it felt like he was making huge progress. It was true what they said. An organized house means an organized mind. At least, for as much as was possible for him.

However, it wasn't just Jughead's words that had gotten through to him. He never wanted to let his son down, but having Alice giving him that card to go to AA meetings had been a real eye-opener. If even someone he expected to hate his guts (something he was still in doubt about) wanted him to get better, maybe he was doing worse than he thought.

As if the universe knew he was thinking about her, a knock on the door followed. FP figured that it would be Jughead coming home from school to pick up a book that he had forgotten, but he was met by the eyes that had been hypnotizing him ever since he was seventeen years old. It was Alice.

"Alice..." He wasn't sure what to say, not after what happened to them at Fred's high school reunion party. She hadn't called him and he hadn't reached out either.

"Can I come in?" She asked calmly, something that made FP suspicious in an instant because usually every time they ran into each other they seemed to yell the first chance they got. However, she had never stopped by his house. It made for him the decision to nod and step aside to let her in.

"Have you called the number I gave you?" She turned around on her heel to face him, her expression serious.

FP softened up a little and let go of his distrust towards her visit. Maybe she wasn't here to pick a fight, maybe Fred had been right and she did in fact care about his health.

"I did. Thanks." He gave her a small smile. It was uncomfortable, having her here in the trailer that contained so many memories of the two of them together.

"Good." She returned the small smile.

It stayed silent for a bit, neither of them really knowing what to say now they weren't fighting anymore. All the words they used to throw at each other like it was nothing, now seemed to fade. Suddenly, they were left speechless. FP was the one to break the silence, seeing in her eyes that she didn't just come to check up on him.

"What are you really doing here, Alice?" His wall was up again, as he thought that it was very likely she came to lecture him about the Serpents, or something Betty had done involving his gang.

"I've been thinking about our encounter." She confessed directly, something that was very unusual for Alice to do.

That, he hadn't expected. FP was rendered speechless by her comment as he thought that it would be something they wouldn't speak of ever again. They were both married and had stepped out on their parents with not just anybody, but their high school lover. Bringing back up the moment they spent together didn't seem like a wise idea.

"I thought that was supposed to be a one time thing." He settled for saying, a little confused.

FP tried to read her facial expression, but had trouble doing so. Alice removed her jacket and draped it on the couch, her face still straight. She had the ultimate poker face, something she had learned during her marriage with Hal.

"Do you want it to be?" Her voice was a soft, low and seductive whisper.

She could barely believe the words that came out of her mouth, but the more Hal was suffocating her, the more she felt drawn to FP. He was her forbidden fruit, and she wanted a bite. 

Alice walked his way as his feet seemed to be glued to the floor, his eyes following her every step. He could smell her perfume and he couldn't ignore the effect it had on his body.

However, when his eyes fell on her hand, the one that crept up his chest to hold his flannel, he noticed something that threw him off. The hypnotizing spell was broken in a split second as he looked at the shiny bright diamond which started right back at him.

"This isn't about me, or you. This is about the ring on your finger. Hard to ignore the weight." He stared at her hand and then back up to her eyes. Something sparked in there, as if suddenly she was aware of why what they had done had been so wrong.

But Alice wasn't going to give up that fast. With her other hand, she removed the ring from her fingers and placed it on the dinner table. When she turned around to face him again, she smiled mischievously.

Before he could even say something, her hand snaked around his neck. He could feel her breath on his skin, and he knew that even no matter how hard he would protest, he'd always lose the fight. This wasn't just anybody, this was Alice. The girl that used to be his, the first girl he had ever fallen in love with. The _only_ girl he had ever fallen in love with.

"Better?" She whispered, her pearly white teeth showing as she smiled at him.

"Alice..." FP closed his eyes as his hands involuntarily wrapped around her waist to hold her close. She was intoxicating and there was nothing he could do to stop what was about to happen.

"You're trouble, you know that?" He whispered, a grin curling on his lips for the first time since she had walked into his trailer.

"I'll show you how much." She pulled him down towards her lips, locking them together in a passionate kiss, one the both of them had dreamed off ever since they had parted ways after the party.

Once she had gotten a taste of how being with him again felt, she didn't want to sacrifice that once more. It was wrong for more reasons than she could count, but boy it felt right.

They stumbled into FP's bedroom, both not letting go off each other's bodies for a second. He ripped open her blouse, her perfect lace white bra showing in front of his eyes.

It wasn't the black color he had always known for her to wear, but when it came to Alice anything would turn him on. There was no one more beautiful to him than she was, no matter what she'd wear.

"How come you get hotter every time I see you?" He growled, his eyes glued onto her breasts.

Alice smirked and unbuttoned his flannel, revealing his bare chest underneath. She pressed lingering kisses on the newly exposed skin, paying him back for the hickeys he gave her last time.

"This is wrong, you know that, huh?" FP said lowly, but the more all the alarm bells in his head told him that they shouldn't, the more he wanted her.

"But it feels right, don't you think?" Alice whispered in his ear, as her hand reached for the growing bulge in his pants. She squeezed it gently, not enough to hurt him, but just to let him feel the pressure.

"You can't tease me like that and not expect to get punished." He groaned, taking the wrist of the hand that was holding his erection and yanking it away. His eyes were filled with lust, a look that only turned on Alice even more.

"Oh, don't worry, that is exactly what I am expecting." She winked at him with a grin curling on her lips that made his stomach twist with butterflies that he tried hard to ignore. This wasn't about his unresolved feelings for her.

Alice broke free from his grasp and took a few steps away from him, as she gave him the perfect view on how she striped out of her clothes, slowly dragging her jeans down over her ass, until she was left in just her underwear.

FP swallowed, as his mind could take one moment to realize that after all these years, he finally had her again like this. He wished he had it all, but as for now this Alice was all he could get.

Her hand reached for the claps of her bra, opening it smoothly and playfully threw it away over her shoulder. It landed next to his nightstand down onto the floor with a soft tud. Next were her panties, the last piece of clothing that she needed to remove before she was fully naked.

FP didn't wait a second longer and shrugged his flannel off his shoulders and got rid of his jeans, boxers and socks as fast as he could. Normally, he would want to play the game but he felt out of control when he looked at her beautiful, breathtaking, naked body.

Alice climbed up the bed with a mischievous smile, and sat up her knees, her eyes fixated on him while her hand traveled between her legs to release some of the tension. He quickly followed her with her growl, his erection begging to be touched by her. He took her hand away from her dripping pussy to replace it with his own, feeling her wetness on his own fingers.

"You are so wet and I haven't even touched you." He gasped, a smirk curling on his lips.

It wasn't a surprise that she was turned on, but he didn't believe she had ever been this wet right before sex. Maybe she had been thinking as much about their latest hook-up as he had done.

"If you don't hurry, I'll take care of it myself." She whispered in his ear, lustfully.

"Patience has never been your strong suit." He grinned, taking his hand back and shoving the fingers into his own mouth to lick them clean.

Alice smiled back at him as she heard the reference to their past relationship, something she thought would upset her, but only made her want him more.

She turned around on her knees, placing her hands onto the mattress. Teasingly, she looked over her shoulder as she pushed her ass towards his erection, telling him without words what she wanted.

"Fuck, Alice... really? You want me like this?" FP swallowed, but his hands gripped into her hips nonetheless.

He had never thought she'd ever let him take her from behind, not when that meant she wouldn't have any control. It wasn't like her to let go off that power without a second thought. Maybe, he thought, maybe she trusted him enough.

Alice gave him a playful wink, giving him all the consent he needed. Slowly, to make sure not to hurt her, he slid inside her, making him gasp as she welcomed him home. She felt amazing, and not only because their bodies fitted together like two puzzle pieces that only had one match, but because he knew that this could be the start of something more between them.

Steadily, he thrusted into her as he listened to her soft little moans that were music to his ears. He loved being with her like this, he loved being the one that she gave control to, he loved being the one she gave this side of her too. But no matter how hot it was to have her ass exposed right in front of him, or how exciting the thought was of grabbing her blonde locks into his hands and tug on it, he needed something else.

"Turn over." He breathed between pants and slipped out of her to give her a chance to do so.

When she laid down onto the mattress, she looked at him a little confused, asking him with one simple look why he wanted to change positions.

"I want to see your face when you come." He grinned and kissed her breathless as he slid into her again.

And though the thought of being able to look right into her eyes when he made her cum was something that excited him, there was one thing he didn't say out loud. He wanted to be close to her, to hold her, to kiss and search for that one little spark in her eyes that told him that this was way more than sex.

**

FP collapsed onto the mattress next to Alice and closed his eyes for a brief second to get back on earth. He was sure that he could fall asleep easily, especially with her warm body next to him. However, before he could let the sandman take over to lull them to sleep, he heard her sniffle.

She was sitting straight up, her back facing him and her face just out of sight for him to look at from his position. When he pushed himself up on his elbow he noticed that she was crying. Her shoulders shocked softly and he saw the waterworks slowly sliding down from her eye towards her chin.

"Hey, did I hurt you? What's going on?" He immediately sat up and placed his hand on her arm.

"I've made a mess, FP." She cried out, trying her hardest to wipe her tears and forget all that things she had done wrong.

Hal was suspicious of her feelings for FP and she didn't have the balls to tell him that there were in fact things they needed to sort out together. At the same time, she had cheated on her husband twice with the man she was so drawn to. She wasn't sure how she was ever going to talk herself out of this. Hal would notice. Everything was going to be ruined, including whatever was left of her and FP.

"Hey, don't say that. It's alright." He pulled her closer, his instincts to comfort her taking over without a second thought.

"No, it's not, I've—" Alice tried to protest between breaths, but FP wasn't going to let her talk herself down like that.

He knew that things weren't ideal. And yes, things were messy. He knew very well that they shouldn't have hooked-up in the first place, but there was no part of him who wanted to take it back. Not when things felt this right.

"Sssh." He shushed her softly, successfully stopping her from trying to ramble. She leant into his hold for a second, allowing herself to relax in the arms of her high school lover.

But Alice wasn't used to talking about her feelings anymore, not even the fresh and urgent ones like these. She needed a distraction, she needed to know that things were going to be fine, even if that was a promise nobody could make her, not even FP.

She took his face into her hands and kissed him passionately, wanting nothing more than to get lost in him for a little longer. She straddled his hips, now wanting nothing more than the control she gave away to him before.

"Alice, I'm not going to have sex with you, not like this." FP pulled back, even when his body screamed that he wanted this with her. It was wrong to sleep with her when she was this upset and he didn't want to be used just because she couldn't face reality.

"So you have enough of it when it becomes messy, right? Is that how it is?" Alice scoffed lowly, her eyes still red from crying and her voice cracking.

She immediately climbed off his bed and put on her underwear, followed by the blouse and the jeans she had been wearing. She needed to get out of there. He looked at her in bewilderment, not following where this sudden change of mood came from.

"You still haven't changed a bit." She shook her head as she put up her wall again, wanting nothing more than to be gone rather sooner than later.

"That's not fair, Alice." FP argued, as he quickly put on his boxers, jeans and flannel, following her out to the living room as she made an attempt to leave.

However, before she could even reach the front door, a voice echoed from the other side. One that was all too familiar to the both of them.

"Jones! Open up! I know she's here!" Hal bonked onto the door loudly as he raised his voice.

Alice froze and the blood disappeared out of her face. He must have followed her or looked for her car on the Southside. How could she be stupid enough to park right in front of his trailer?

"Fucking hell, what is Cooper doing here?" FP hissed angrily, trying to catch her eyes and get an explanation.

She didn't even get the chance to say anything, as FP's front door hadn't been locked after Alice had come in. Hal stormed inside, but when he saw her standing right into the middle of the trailer, his face fell. Part of him had hoped he had been wrong, but her messy hair, her blouse buttoned up wrong and the guilty faces staring back at him said enough.

"Tell me, that this isn't what it seems." Hal looked at his wife, his eyes spitting fire.

"Hal..." Alice tried, her voice soft in an attempt to try to come up with an excuse. But he wasn't going to let her finish.

"Don't, Alice. You proved exactly what I've been thinking the last two decades. I can't even stand looking at you right now." He shook his head disapprovingly as he sent her a direct look of pure disgust, before averting his gaze from hers.

"You'll be expecting the divorce papers soon." It was everything else he had left to say before turning around to leave the trailer again, no bone in his body wanting to be around Alice any longer.

He had given her everything, and this is how she repaid him? He was going to take everything away from her and let her pay for her mistake.

"Hal, please, wait." Alice tried to call after him as she followed him outside, desperately.

"Go to hell, Alice. And the whole Southside with it!" He yelled after her, before walking his car without giving her as much of a look.

Alice sat down on the small stair that led to his door, looking in defeat as she stared at the spot where the car of her soon to be ex-husband had just vanished. Part of her heart had broken, but she couldn't stop feeling to be relieved, as if she was happy that they got caught.

FP had followed closely behind, not sure what to do with a woman who had just been caught cheating on her husband. This was his fault too, he should have never let her take off her ring. He should've said no.

"If you're going to sit in the cold, at least take your jacket." He had taken her coat that she had thrown on the couch and softly draped it over her shoulders as he sat next to her.

She smiled softly through the tears that had gathered in her eyes. Somehow, she felt okay. Maybe Hal seeing that she had gone off to be with FP had finally revealed what she had been afraid to say all these years.

"Am I really a bad person, FP?" She asked quietly, her throat tightening.

Alice knew that she would be the one to get judged, she had been the one to step out on him. But would anybody ask her why she did it or how her husband had treated her these decades?

"No, don't do this." FP shook his head and turned her head. He looked angry.

"I know what you are expecting. You want the whole speech, love declaration and all. But I'm not giving you one, Alice." He looked away from her, with an annoyed scowl on his face.

After all these years, it seemed unfair that he had to be the one to say it first. After all, she got the life she wanted while he was being left to die on the Southside. Alice stayed silent and swallowed her words. Maybe he was right. She didn't deserve it.

"I wanted to twenty five years ago, but you never gave me the chance to give you one, because you were already off with Cooper before I could even blink. It's too late." He said quietly, his eyes casting down to the gravel underneath the small stairs under them. However, the mention of her running off with Hal struck a nerve.

"You were the one who didn't take us seriously, FP. Don't turn this around." She argued, her eyes burning with passion. It wasn't fair that he got to blame her, not when she had been the one to have a clear idea of their future.

She had chosen Hal because FP hadn't been man enough to choose her, to really be with her. Back then, she hadn't seen any other choice on how to get herself out of the Southside.

" _God_ , Alice. Maybe you were mature enough to know what kind of future you saw for us, but I for sure wasn't. I was seventeen years old for God's sake, I didn't even know what tomorrow would bring, but you expected me to have planned out a life for us when I was just a child. You were a woman, Alice. You had grown up. But I? I was just a boy who had no clue."

FP had never been a man of words, but now he finally had his window to let out all he had thought of about how things had gone down between them, he couldn't stop himself. All these years, he knew that he had fucked up for not choosing her, but she had expected too much, too soon.

He was young, he could barely survive, and yet she had wanted him to see the treasure right before his nose. She had been so close, that he had never seen it. He couldn't, not when she never told him that she saw them as something real.

"And when I finally realized that I saw us growing old together you had run off with someone else." He said sadly, his eyes glossing over with tears.

FP remembered it vividly. Slowly, he could feel her distancing herself from him, and the more she was gone, the more he had known that he couldn't let her go. He had wanted to tell her that she was the only one he'd ever love for the rest of his life, but he never got the chance. She had chosen Hal, without ever coming to talk to him. He had felt betrayed and heartbroken, something he had never gotten over.

"You could have chased after me, you could have told me how you felt. We could have made a life together." Alice's voice was soft, but she couldn't help but feel that all he said was just an excuse of why they hadn't worked out.

He said he wanted to be with her, but he had never fought to be with her. How true were those feelings? If he would have asked, she would have chosen him without a second thought, over anyone. Even over Hal, the man who could make her northside life dream come true. They would have figured it out together.

"No, you're not getting to say that. You can't blame me for not chasing after you, when you made your choice clear." FP scoffed and shook his head.

If things hadn't been so complicated, maybe he would have. But she got what she had always wanted, and he was stuck in a place he couldn't give her a future. He had loved her too much to ruin her chances to a life she deserved. She had always been full of potential that got wasted because she could barely scrape by, and he wasn't going to blow her chance for her talents to really blossom.

"I've done a lot of selfish things in my life, Alice. But if you really think I would ruin your life, one we had always dreamed of together, you really don't know me at all. At least one of us got what we wanted. I wasn't going to take that away from you, not with the risk of getting my heart shattered. I had to move on." He confessed, still not able to look at her.

FP was too afraid to see the hurt in her eyes, one that he would recognize immediately because he had felt it too the past twenty years.

"Besides, it wouldn't have mattered if I loved you. I really did and I am sorry for not stepping up and telling you. I wasn't the man you deserved. Part of me thought... it would be better this way. I thought you were happy." He said quietly, his cheeks flushing.

FP had never been this honest about his feelings for Alice before and admitting that part of the reason why he never fought for her was because he thought she deserved way better than to be with someone like him, was harder than he thought. He had never realized before that he looked at himself in such a negative light.

Alice tried to swallow away her tears, as for the very first time in her life she realized that her version of the truth, had been just a small part of the story. She had been so focused on her own anger, her own sadness that she never considered how things had been for FP.

Would things have been different if she would have asked him? Was it because she had lived in her own reality that she hadn't seen what she had asked from him and how it must have hurt when she disappeared to the Northside without another word?

"I ruined us, didn't I?" She said quietly, staring at a spot in front of her. There were a thousand scenarios where she could have done one thing differently, and they would have worked out.

"You didn't. Life happened, Alice. It's fine. I should have seen what I had." He said softly. FP didn't want her to blame herself for what happened or didn't happen between them.

If he had thought for one second about what Alice meant to him in his life, instead of always pretending he didn't care, she wouldn't have run off. He too had a thousand scenarios of things he should have done differently that could have saved them.

"What are you going to do about Hal?" He asked her carefully, part of him afraid of her answer. After all, he was still her husband. They had built a life together for over twenty years, including having two beautiful daughters together.

"It's over. It should have been over a long time ago." She said quietly, finally looking up at him now.

And though she knew she should feel awful for even thinking about it, but a part of her wished that she had never married him, that it had always been her and FP. They would have had to survive and they wouldn't have a lot, but they could have had each other. It would have been enough. FP nodded slowly. He wanted to believe her.

"Maybe you should go. It's for the best." FP cleared his throat, suddenly feeling that the air was filled with a heavy tension that he wasn't quite ready for.

They would talk, later. If they dared to. Alice smiled sadly, but stood up nonetheless. He stood up too, as he looked at her walking away. FP was ready to go back into his trailer, dive into his bed and sort out all the thoughts that were running through his mind. But before he had the chance, Alice had turned on her heel.

"You were right, FP. I don't deserve the speech." She said, her eyes twinkling with tears. He turned around to listen to her.

"But you do."

"Alice..." He protested softly, his gut telling him where this was going.

Although he had wished to hear what she really felt for him for over twenty years, now it was about to happen, he wasn't sure he could deal with it.

"No, don't. I need to say this, okay? I need to speak from my heart at least once in my life." Her voice cracked as she took another step into his direction.

FP swallowed, but didn't protest anymore. He was going to let her talk, even if it was going to be painful to hear what had been on her mind for longer than he could imagine.

"Why are you the first one I think of when I want to celebrate the milestones in my life or when I need comfort? Why is that, FP?" Her lip quivered, but she wasn't going to let her tears have the satisfaction of winning this battle, not before she was finished.

"For twenty years, you were always out there, at the other side of town. The thought of you being close, even when we didn't see each other gave me comfort, knowing that the one person in this world whom I really loved was out there. You've always been the one to remind me that my heart wasn't made of stone and at the same time the one to tell me that I was selfish for not giving us a chance to survive."

FP softened, and suddenly felt his shoulders relaxed even when he hadn't noticed how tense they were. He had never expected that Alice Cooper, the woman who did not seem to care about anyone but herself and her fake picture perfect family, had always thought of him this way.

Night after night, he had dreamed of what it would have been like if she would have stayed, and now he found out that part of her had thought of him exactly the same.

He wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth his words got simply stuck in his throat. What were you supposed to say to the woman you had loved since you were seventeen, when she was telling you that you were the one keeping her sane?

"I'm sorry, FP. I really am. I loved you, I really did. But that grown woman you saw? That was just a very scared seventeen year old girl. The only thing in my life that I was sure of, was you." Her shoulders shocked softly as she gave up the battle against her tears.

His heart broke seeing her like this, even if part of him had blamed her for leaving him on the Southside all those years ago.

Both of them had made versions of the other in their head to justify why they had parted ways, maybe because they knew that if they would allow themselves to see the truth, they would see that it wasn't just the other's fault, but that they had both done so many things that had led them to this very moment.

"You were scared?" He asked quietly, his voice cracking.

The fierce Alice Smith had never been afraid of anyone and neither had Alice Cooper. She had been so mature, so worldlike, so ready to fulfill the dreams she had since she was a little girl. He had never expected her to be scared of anything.

"Terrified. I know I made a mistake for choosing security, when I should have stayed. Maybe I did ask too much too soon from you. I should have fought for you and with that show you that I was worth going for." Alice wiped away the tears on her cheeks as she caught her breath.

Slowly, she was calming down as all the things she had wanted to say had finally been said out loud. She knew she might have given up too soon, because part of her had never thought of herself as the girl worth keeping around.

It was so much easier to run, than to show the man she loved that she was worth it. How could he want to be with her if she didn't believe herself that she was worth being with?

"You've always been worth fighting for, Alice. You have been when you were seventeen, and you still are." FP said softly, for the very first time allowing himself to let all that he had felt for Alice ever since he was just a boy, to finally return.

Carefully, he took her hand into his own, locking their fingers together. They still fitted perfectly.

"But... I got tired of fighting a battle I had lost before it had even started." FP said sadly, as he looked up at her teary blue eyes.

How could he have possibly fought for her when he didn't stand a chance against the man that could give her so much more than he could?

"You think you lost? You had a part of me Hal would never get. You still have." She told him, her eyes not breaking from his.

He might have been her husband, but her heart had always belonged to FP, no matter how hard she had fought it.

"I do?" He asked her insecurely, but with hope sparkling in his voice.

"Why do you think we always snap at each other? We both know it's not hate. It's way more than that." She took another step closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling his doing exactly the same. It felt good to be close to him again.

"I can't do this halfway with you, Alice. It needs to be everything. I can't be with you if one hand is still holding onto Hal." FP rested his forehead against hers as he tried to look in her eyes for any hint of doubt, but he couldn't find it.

"I know I am asking a lot from you... but can you do that?" He asked her softly, his hands involuntarily trembling from his nerves.

Giving up your marriage and your family to rekindle a relationship with someone you had so many things to sort out with, including decades long of resentment, pain and anger was not a light decision. He wanted for her to take all the time she needed, but what she said next told him all he needed to know.

"I can. I want to be with you, only you." She promised him, as she felt her heart glow in a way she couldn't remember it ever had.

Alice knew she was risking a lot of things. She was about to lose everything, but win the one thing that she didn't want to live without any longer.

"I never thought I'd ever hear you say those words." FP smiled happily, his heart fluttering as she finally confessed something he wished would have happened a long time ago. It was real. Alice had said that she wanted to be with him. Even with his rock-bottom self.

Finally, he kissed her like he had never done before, not even when they were teenagers. This was a kiss between two people who finally confessed to be deeply in love with each other and gave their relationship a chance, no matter the odds being against them.

Things were about to get real messy, but as long as they were in it together, they could handle it. He pulled back a little reluctant, before they would stay in this happy little bubble of theirs. He wished they could, but they needed to be aware of all that they were facing.

"Al, this is going to be a long fight. Not just with Hal, Gladys, our kids... but with each other as well." He said quietly, pulling her body as close to him as he could.

After all, they were two people who didn't know any better than to snap at each other when things got difficult, or disguise any other emotion that was too hard to deal with. That wasn't just something they could change over night. It was going to take a lot of work.

"I'm still not sober and you're going to lose everything."

FP knew that once she would divorce Hal, it would be the two of them, in his trailer. All the things she had built the last decades would be taken away from her. He didn't want her to resent him for that later.

"We need to be ready for that."

"No more running. I promise." She smiled up at him, and pecked a soft kiss on his lips.

Alice knew that from now on, things were going to get harder than they ever had before. Together they had four kids who had to deal with their parents separating and dating someone new, all the while when they needed to find a way to make their relationship work.

The only thing that made her confident enough to feel so peacefully about her decision, was that no matter how hard it would get, they weren't stupid enough to let each other go once more.

"No more running." He repeated, before kissing her once more, telling her that he'd do anything to give her all her heart desired for as long as he would live.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I realize that everyone's headcanon of what happened in high school is very personal, this is just one of mine!
> 
> 3x04 is a disgrace, but if we do look at the canon information we have gotten, we have Alice and FP not being in sync (anymore), probably at the very end of their relationship. Later, FP says to Jughead that it's just Alice's side of the story.
> 
> In this scenario, I think FP realized too late what Alice meant to him and that she had never dared to say out loud that she loved him. Before he could even tell her, she was with Hal already.
> 
> So, in the line in 3x04: I do believe that FP loved her but just like I wrote was just a boy who could barely make it through the day. He was just too late to tell her.
> 
> And Alice? She assumed she wasn't worth loving and took her chance out. Both of them didn't see themselves as someone worth being with, eventually makes them resent each other for decades.
> 
> I realize the one shot is rushed, but I wanted it to end happy. Let me know your teen falice headcanons!


End file.
